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1 Working Paper Series No 995 / Current account benchmarks for central and eastern Europe a desperate search? by Michele Ca Zorzi, Alexander Chudik and Alistair Dieppe

2 WORKING PAPER SERIES NO 995 / JANUARY 2009 CURRENT ACCOUNT BENCHMARKS FOR CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE A DESPERATE SEARCH? 1 by Michele Ca Zorzi, Alexander Chudik and Alistair Dieppe 2 In 2009 all publications feature a motif taken from the 200 banknote. This paper can be downloaded without charge from or from the Social Science Research Network electronic library at 1 We have benefited from valuable comments by Gianni Amisano, Roberto De Santis, Michael Rubaszek, Frank Smets and Martin Wagner. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Central Bank. All errors are our responsibility. 2 All authors: European Central Bank, Kaiserstrasse 29, D Frankfurt am Main, Germany;

3 European Central Bank, 2009 Address Kaiserstrasse Frankfurt am Main, Germany Postal address Postfach Frankfurt am Main, Germany Telephone Website Fax All rights reserved. Any reproduction, publication and reprint in the form of a different publication, whether printed or produced electronically, in whole or in part, is permitted only with the explicit written authorisation of the or the author(s). The views expressed in this paper do not necessarily refl ect those of the European Central Bank. The statement of purpose for the Working Paper Series is available from the website, eu/pub/scientific/wps/date/html/index. en.html ISSN (online)

5 Abstract This paper examines two competing approaches for calculating current account benchmarks, i.e. the external sustainability approach á la Lane and Milesi-Ferretti (LM) versus the structural current accounts literature (SCA) based on panel econometric techniques. The aim is to gauge the medium term adjustment in current account positions that may be required in some central and eastern European countries. As regards the LM approach, we show how the outcome is especially sensitive to (i) the normative choice for external indebtedness and (ii) the decision to exclude the foreign direct investment subcomponent from the NFA aggregate. Turning our search to the SCA approach, we assess its sensitivity to model and parameter uncertainty by setting different selection criteria to choose amongst the over 8000 possible combinations of fundamentals. Furthermore, to test the robustness of our findings we combine all models, attaching to each a probability (Bayesian Averaging of Classical Estimates). We show both the LM and SCA methodologies are not immune from severe drawbacks and conceptual difficulties. Nevertheless pulling together the results of both approaches point to the countries that may need a current account adjustment over a medium term horizon. Keywords: Current account, capital flows, financial integration, central and eastern Europe, panel data, model uncertainty, model combination. JEL Classification: C11, C33, F15, F32, F34, F41, O52 4

6 Non-technical summary Several central and eastern European countries have over recent years recorded a period of robust economic growth, accompanied in some cases by sizeable current account deficits and strong capital inflows. While this can be viewed as a natural phenomenon and a sign of economic success, policy makers need to balance opportunities and risks appropriately. The current account provides a signal to assess if a medium term adjustment is required. The aim of this paper is to review critically two competing methods for calculating benchmarks for the current account and discuss their applicability to the case of central and eastern Europe. The two approaches are very different. The approach á la Lane and Milesi-Ferretti (LM) isanaccounting framework, in which benchmarks are calculated to ensure a stable external indebtedness position. Two factors turn out to be decisive: (i) at what level policy makers wish to stabilise external indebtedness - in some countries the 2007 level is by international standards high; (ii) whether to include foreign direct investment in the aggregate measure of indebtedness - the composition of net foreign assets positions may matter. The alternative approach for deriving benchmarks is to estimate structural current accounts (SCA) based on panel econometric techniques. The search seems "desperate", as there are over 8000 alternative models. We proceed to run all models and show how for a number of variables the sign and magnitude of the coefficients are robust across all specifications. We then develop a transparent selection procedure to narrow down the choice to five models. Finally we combine the information of all models, giving to each a different weight on the basis of their statistical properties. This is achieved by taking Bayesian Averages of the Classical Estimates (BACE), following a methodology proposed recently by Sala-i-Martin et al. (2004). Our five preferred specifications and the combination of all models show current account benchmarks located within a relatively narrow range. One could claim success, however, for the policy maker two important caveats remain, (i) not all coefficients are consistent with our ex-ante expectations in terms of sign or magnitude (ii) some countries appear to be for a prolonged period of time in disequilibrium, suggesting that important country factors may be at play that a world model cannot adequately capture. Our conclusion is that both the LM and SCA methodologies suffer from drawbacks and conceptual difficulties. Nevertheless pulling together the results of both approaches point to the countries that may need a current account adjustment over a medium term horizon. For the Visegrad countries the current account deficits in 2007 are consistent with stable external indebtedness (albeit in some cases at high levels) and no evidence of disequilibria emerge from the models selected and the models combined. For all other central and eastern European countries in our sample, the current account balances in 2007 are consistent with a deteriorating external indebtedness position. The selected models as well as the model combination also point to the need for a current account adjustment over a medium term horizon 5

7 1 Introduction Several central and eastern European countries have over recent years recorded large current account deficits and a sizeable accumulation of stock liabilities. Different views have been expressed on whether this represents a concern or simply reflects the low initial level of financial integration and the ongoing catching up process. The question that then arises is if this substantial increase in stock liabilities, gross and net, may be justified in terms of economic fundamentals or is unwarranted. This is not a new debate in economics as it is closely related to the "transfer problem" that was already addressed by Keynes and Ohlin in the 1920s whilst discussing the economic consequences of war repayments by Germany. In a similar vein it could be argued today that an exchange rate adjustment may be required to stabilise net foreign assets positions or reverse negative income flows, to swing these countries from experiencing current account deficits to surpluses (see Lane and Milesi-Ferretti, 2004, Krugman, 1999). That said there is also something special about these economies. A positive element are the large size of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows that in some cases have fully covered the current account deficits while helping to develop a viable and profitable export sector. This begs the non-trivial question whether strong FDI liabilities should be viewed as a supportive factor or worrisome (Aristovnik, 2006a). A negative element is the balance sheets exposure in some countries, a point which Krugman (1999) emphasised while analysing the origins of the Asian crisis. Explanations for large deficits are often bundled with the notion of catching up. The literature by Lane and Milesi-Ferretti (2006) employs an accounting framework (LM) to derive current account (ca) benchmarks that would stabilise net foreign assets positions. From that perspective the open questions remain, especially for catching up countries, how much time is available for this stabilisation process to unfold and how to define the normative level of external indebtedness. The literature on structural current accounts (SCA) instead applies panel econometric techniques to establish if there is long-term relationship between the current account and standard macroeconomic fundamentals, such as relative GDP per capita, the demographic structure or fiscal policy. Key examples are the studies by Debelle and Faruquee (1996), Chinn and Prasad (2003), Bussière et al. (2004). The economic underpinning theory for this empirical analyses stems from the intertemporal approaches to the current account, which originated from the seminal papers by Buiter (1981) and Sachs (1981), later extended by Obstfeld and Rogoff (1994). Emerging markets are traditionally expected to be net recipients of capital flows as the rate of return on investment is in normal circumstances higher. Although counter-examples are frequent, 1 central and eastern Europe behaves by the textbook: the financial and regional integration process is deepening, FDI is supporting the development of a competitive export sector and the catching up process has gathered momentum, particularly after EU entry in Sizeable capital inflows may however constitute a risk to balanced economic growth and be subject to sudden reversals. Policy makers therefore face the challenge of balancing opportunities and risks appropri- 1 In his classic article Lucas (1990) described the reasons why capital may not always flow to emerging markets. Reinhard and Rogoff (2004) recently even pointed to the paradox whereby capital is flowing in the opposite directions to the "rich" countries. However, as suggested by a recent article by Abiad et al. (2007), Europe is differentorrathercloserto"textbook" theory. 6

8 ately. 2 Current account benchmarks may therefore constitute an additional tool among other indicators of financial stability for assessing the ongoing catching up process and whether a medium term adjustment is required. In this paper, we revisit the two competing methodologies just described, i.e. the accounting versus the panel econometric approaches. Our aim is to gauge if the implicit ranges that one derives from both these analyses provide ultimately meaningful guidance. As regards the LM approach, our contribution is to distinguish the role of different class of assets, in particular by separating the role of FDI. Given the nature of this paper we assess the sensitivity of the analysis to alternative plausible scenarios, including an exchange rate depreciation. We show how the outcome is especially sensitive (i) to the normative choice for external indebtedness and (ii) the decision whether to exclude the FDI subcomponent from the NFA aggregate. As for the SCA approach, we address potential sources of model misspecification or inefficiency by developing a fully fledged model selection procedure for a large set of countries and a wide combination of determinants. This is in contrast with the existing analyses, which are not explicit on how the preferred model is selected (e.g. Chinn and Prasad, 2003 and Rahman, 2008). The different selection criteria here employed allowustoassessmodelandparameter uncertainty. As a final endeavour, we employ the Bayesian techniques recently developed by Sala-i-Martin et al. (2004) to weight and combine all models. As it turns out, the identified ca benchmarks that we find for central and eastern Europe are quantitatively similar irrespective of the selection criterion adopted, while the solution provided by combining all models lie typically within this range. Some elasticities are bounded in a tight range irrespective of model selected. For the Baltic countries, Romania and Bulgaria we find that all models signal a large current account disequilibrium that would require a correction over the medium term. This appears to be a very convincing result. The important caveat remains that some of the coefficients are not consistent with our ex-ante expectations either in terms of sign or magnitude, questioning the theoretical basis of this approach. The remainder of this paper is organised as follows: In Section 2 we introduce the key notation and the accounting framework developed by Lane and Milesi- Ferretti (2004 and 2006). In Section 3 we establish a number of key stylised facts for central eastern Europe for the period , examining in particular the important role played by FDI. In Section 4 we generalise the analysis by Lane and Milesi-Ferreti (2006), in particular by considering more explicitly the role of FDI and gauging the sensitivity of the results to alternative plausible assumptions. In Section 5 we calculate structural current accounts by panel data estimation techniques, by carrying out a wide-ranging search strategy for a large set of countries and fundamentals to assess model uncertainty. Additionally we explore model combination techniques to gauge the robustness of the analysis. Section 6 contains our main policy conclusions by pulling together the results of both approaches. 2 Notation and Accounting Framework Let us assume that there are N currencies corresponding to N countries indexed by j {1,.., N}. We distinguish in this paper three types of assets/liabilities indexed by S {eq, debt, fdi}, standing respectively 2 For a policy making perspective on the opportunities and risks associated to present developments in central and eastern Europe see the speeches by Bini Smaghi (2007) and Stark (2007). 7

9 for equity, debt and foreign direct investment. 3 The analysis that follows, however, is general as there are different possible ways of decomposing assets and liabilities. 4 Define Q A jt the quantity of asset of type {eq, debt, fdi} denominated in currency j andheldbythe home economy between period t and t +1. The price of one unit of asset denominated in currency j is similarly denoted as P A jt. Therefore A jt = P A jt Q A jt is the nominal value of the asset denominated in currency j at the end of period t. Considering furthermore that E jt is the nominal exchange rate of currency j (i.e. the amount of domestic currency for one unit of currency of country j), the following expression 1+s jt Ejt E j,t 1 defines an exchange rate depreciation relative to country j. Finally A t = P N j=1 A jte jt is the nominal value of assets of type while A t = P S A t is the nominal value of all foreign assets held in the home economy, both expressed in domestic currency terms. Similarly, we use letter L to denote liabilities. Given this initial notation, we denote the effective average return on all foreign assets held by the home economy as r At = X r A t w A t, S where r A t is return on the assets of type, the weights assigned to each asset are given by and r A t is defined as follows 5 r A t = w A t = A,t 1 A t 1, NX j=1 Similarly we define the rate of returns for liabilities. financial flows as shown in Table 1 here below: r A jt A j,t 1 E jt A,t 1. These definitions allow one to derive cross border Table 1: Cross Border Financial Flows (assets/liabilities). Returns (in home currency) Flows due to trade (in home currency) in r At A t 1 H Lt P s S P N j=1 Q L jtp L jt E jt out r Lt L t 1 H At P s S P N j=1 Q A jtp A jt E jt 3 The international investment position was splitted among its equity and FDI components. Debt here is defined as the residual, incorporating therefore portfolio debt, other investment, financial derivatives and, in the case of assets, also reserves. 4 One alternative would be dividing the international investment position between net external debt and non-debt components. This would entail entail subdividing FDI between debt (intercompany lending) and non debt components. One may also attempt to decompose FDI sectorally to distinguish between FDI that has flown in more or less productive or export oriented sectors. There is a degree of arbitrariness in the decision of how to split the international investment position. The example here chosen in this paper is meant to stress the importance of composition issues. Net FDI flows is used by central and eastern European national central banks as a proxy for productivity (e.g. in the Nigem block). Net FDI flows are also employed in export equations in a number of central and eastern European countries. 5 r A jt denotes return of asset denominated in currency j. 8

11 3 Stylised Facts and Patterns Having completed these definitions, we review briefly where central and eastern Europe stands in terms of current account positions, financial integration and net foreign assets, both level and composition. One may recall that monetary policy differs considerably across countries, from completely fixed exchange rate arrangements to pure floaters. At the beginning of the transition process, most of these countries relied on pegging the exchange rate to a highly stable currency, such as the US dollar or the Deutsche Mark, as a way to import credibility from abroad and reduce inflation from high levels. In the course of the 1990s, a number of countries gradually softened their pegs and moved towards greater monetary policy autonomy and in some cases adopting inflation targeting as their monetary policy framework. Countries can be broadly distinguished between those with hard peg regimes (i.e. Bulgaria (BG), Estonia (EE), Latvia (LV) and Lithuania (LT)) and those with inflation targeting regimes with various degrees of exchange rate flexibility (i.e. the Czech Republic (CZ), Hungary (HU), Poland (PL), Romania (RO) and Slovakia (SK)). For the Visegrad countries current account positions in 2007 are not too dissimilar from the levels prevailing in 2000, while for the other five countries in this sample, those with hard peg regimes and Romania, there has been a substantial worsening in their CA positions since 2000 (see Figure 1). 6 Average (9 countries) BG Average (9 countries) CZ HU PL EE LV RO SK LT 0% 0% -2% -5% -4% -10% -6% -15% -8% -10% -20% -12% -25% -14% -30% -16% Figure 1: Current Account Developments (% of GDP); source. Consistently with the persistence of these deficits, the net foreign asset position in percent of GDP has deteriorated in all countries, reaching negative values close to 100% in the case of Hungary, and 80% in Estonia, Latvia and Bulgaria while remaining more contained elsewhere (see Table 2). This process was accompanied by a general rise in the degree of financial integration, which reached levels greater than 100% of GDP for all countries (see Table 2) and above 200% for Estonia, Latvia, Hungary and 6 Recent developments suggest that the current account positions might improve in the Baltics for 2008, against the backdrop of a substantially lower or even negative pace of economic growth. 10

12 Table 2: Net Foreign Assets and Financial Integration in 2000 and Net foreign assets Financial integration Baltic States Estonia Latvia Lithuania Visegrad group Czech Republic Hungary Poland Slovakia Bulgaria Romania Source: ; in percent of GDP Bulgaria. An important novel aspect of the catching up process compared to past experiences has been the large FDI coverage of the current and capital account deficits (see Figure 2), which was on average higher than 100% for the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Bulgaria between 2000 and The large current and capital account deficits have also been covered for a sizeable part by FDI in the Baltics, Romania and Bulgaria, although the coverage has fallen recently for all these countries except Bulgaria below 50%. 250% average ( ) 2007 net FDI net equity net debt EE LV LT CZ HU PL SK BG RO 200% 150% 100% 50% percentage of GDP 40% 20% 0% -20% -40% -60% 0% EE LV LT CZ HU PL SK BG RO -80% -100% Figure 2: FDI Coverage of the Current and Capital Account on Average ( ) and in 2007 (left chart) and Composition of the International Investment Position in 2007 (right chart). This is reflected also in the composition of the net foreign assets, whose negative balances is mainly due to sizeable net FDI liabilities, albeit the debt component plays also an important role in the Baltic countries and Hungary. Excluding the FDI component, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic would even stand as net 11

14 Let us then subtract the investment income component from the current account CA t BGST {z } t + r At A t 1 r Lt L t 1. {z } (8) CA less inv. inc. investment income As is shown in Figure 3, investment income represents the dominant component in all the four Visegrad countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia). For the remaining countries, the current account deficits are mainly due to negative balances in the trade account for goods and services. 5% bgst inv income EE LV LT CZ HU PL SK BG RO 0% percentage of GDP -5% -10% -15% -20% -25% Figure 3: Investment Income in 2007 Given the above definitions, equation (5) can be written as b t b t 1 = bgst t + k t + i At 1+n t a t 1 i Lt 1+n t l t 1 n t 1+n t b t 1, (9) where i At (and similarly i Lt for liabilities) defines the effective return inclusive of capital gains on total external assets i At = NX θ A,t 1 i A t, j=1 as a weighted average of the effective return of the different components i A t with weights defined as θ A,t 1 = A,t 1 A t 1. The effective return on each asset is similarly calculated as the weighted average of the return of thesameassetforeachcurrencyj 7 NX i A t = θ A j,t 1 i A jt, 7 Similarly, we define θ A j,t 1 = A j,t 1 A,t 1. j=1 13

15 which can be further decomposed to explicitly account for valuation effects, where κ A jt in currency j. KG A jt A j,t 1E j,t 1 i A t = NX θ A j,t 1 (r A jt (1 + s jt )+κ A jt ), j=1 is defined as the ratio of capital gains in the total value of asset denominated To calculate benchmarks for bgst it is not sufficient to assume a steady state level for external indebtedness as expressed in (6). One needs to define also a steady state level for total liabilities, l t = l s t 1 = l s, (10) which contemporaneously determines the steady state for total assets and financial integration, a t = a s t 1 = a s = l s + b s, f t = f s t 1 = f s =2l s + b s. (11) Substituting equations (6) and (11) into equation (9) yields the following benchmark for bgst bgst s t = 1 2(1+n t ) [(i Lt i At ) l s +2n t b s ] k s. (12) As shown in (12), bgst s t is an increasing function of the interest rate spread i Lt i At given that l s > 0. Expression (12) can also be generalised in terms of breakdown of aggregates into the corresponding equity, debt and foreign direct investment subcomponents. Defining the steady state for each subcomponent, b s t = b s and l s t = l s for {eq, debt, fdi}, (13) the following analogous expression is found bgst s t = 1 2(1+n t ) X [(i Lt i At ) l s +2n t b s ] k s. (14) S which allows one to decompose the contributions to bgst s t across the three different components of capital. Finally, to compute ca benchmarks kg s t is derived as follows, kg s t = X S (kg s A t kg s L t) = X S µ κa t a s κ L t l s, 1+n t 1+n t where κ A t = P N j=1 a s j,t 1 a κ s A jt and κ L t = P N j=1 l s j,t 1 l κ s l jt. 4.2 The role of foreign currency exposure The large foreign exchange rate exposure documented in Section 3 begs the question of what is the direct impact of an unexpected exchange rate change on the net foreign asset position in the home economy. Let 14

17 ca ca benchmark bgst bgst benchmark 0% 5% -5% 0% -10% -15% -20% -5% -10% -25% -15% -30% EE LV LT CZ HU P L SK BG RO -20% EE LV LT CZ HU P L SK BG RO Figure 4: Current Account Benchmarks and 2007 Position (left chart); BGST Benchmarks and 2007 Positions (right chart). Consensus Forecast for the period (September 2007) as a proxy for potential output. 8 We also introduce the simplifying assumption that over the medium run the external environment is characterised by foreign inflation of 2% and potential growth of 2.25%, implicitly accounting for the dominant role of theeuroareaforthesecountries. TheGDPdeflator is instead assumed to be determined by the Balassa Samuelson effect. More specifically, we assume that, given a constant exchange rate, the inflation differential is determined by an elasticity of 0.5 multiplied by the growth differential vis-a-vis the foreign country. This elasticity is taken from a recent study on equilibrium exchange rate determination based on a large panel dataset by Osbat (2008). Other simplifying assumptions include that (i) the average nominal total return on debt assets is equal to euro area inflation plus a spread of 2.25; (ii) the average nominal total return on equity assets has a spread of 1 percentage points relative to debt assets and finally that (iii) the average nominal total return on FDI assets has a spread of 1.5 percentage points relative to debt. Turning to the liabilities side, our benchmark is based on the initial assumption that (i) the average return on debt liabilities is characterised by a spread of 0.5 percentage points relative to debt assets; (ii) the average nominal return on equity is 0.5 percentage points higher than nominal GDP in the home country (iii) and the average nominal return on FDI is slightly higher, i.e. 1 percentage point higher than nominal GDP. Given the size of the EU capital transfers, an important role is played by the capital account. There we assume that it will continue to record values equal to those prevailing on average between 2004 and Finally, we make the simplifying assumption that on average there are no capital gains on debt and FDI, whereas 90% of total returns on equity take place via capital gains. As it turns out, in 2007 current account and BGST deficits were larger than the corresponding benchmarks for the Baltics, Bulgaria and Romania (see Figure 4). 8 This implies the following assumptions for real growth in central and eastern Europe, Estonia 5.1%, Latvia 5.2%, Lithuania 4.6%, Czech Republic 3.9%, Hungary and Poland 4.4%, Slovakia and Bulgaria 5.2%, Romania 5.1%. 16

18 Two digit current account deficits are in all cases consistent with a deteriorating net foreign asset position while stricter benchmarks (lower than 5% of GDP) typically apply for countries characterised by lower levels of external indebtedness. There also appears to be a simple rule of thumb for maintaining stable net foreign assets, that is bgst should remain close to balance (Figure 4). While providing interesting insights, applying this accounting approach to the case of central and eastern Europe is not immune from critique for at least three set of reasons, namely: (a) the results may be sensitive to the initial assumptions, (b) it is difficult to define a normative level of external indebtedness and (c) the standard analysis ignores the important peculiarities of the region, i.e. the important share of net FDI stock in net foreign assets and the large foreign currency denomination of the debt component. We need to address all these three critical aspects to assess to what extent they may drive the results. We start by conducting a sensitivity analysis to verify how the benchmarks would change if (i) the pace of catching-up moderates, i.e. growth halves relative to the baseline scenario, (ii) if the spread on debt payments increases by 200 basis points and (iii) the pace of the Balassa Samuelson doubles. We also examine what would change if scenarios (i) and (ii) take place simultaneously (see Table 4). As it turns out, a moderate growth scenario has a positive impact (i.e. requires smaller deficits) on the ca benchmarks between 0.8 and 2.8% of GDP depending on the country. As already evident in equations (12) and (7) the increase in the debt spread has a positive impact on bgst (particularly in the Baltic countries and Hungary) but none on the ca benchmarks. The size of the Balassa Samuelson effect is also shown to matter, affecting ca benchmarks negatively. The combined scenario of low growth and high interest rate spreads would not change the general result for countries displaying deficits in the two-digit region that a substantial adjustment is needed. For lower deficit countries, these alternative assumptions change the overall assessment leaning toward the conclusion of a moderate disequilibrium. Table 4: Sensitivity Analysis. Low growth High spreads High BS eff. (1)+(2) Scenario (1) Scenario (2) Scenario (3) Scenario (4) BGST CA BGST CA BGST CA BGST CA Baltic states Estonia Latvia Lithuania Visegrad group Czech Republic Hungary Poland Slovakia Bulgaria Romania Notes: Impact in percent of GDP A second and perhaps more poignant critique to this framework is that it is not clear how one should define a normative level for external indebtedness. There are indeed no particular reasons why a country should 17

19 stabilise NFA and its components at current values, which in some cases are very high. Thus constructing different benchmarks on this basis may bias the comparability of the results across countries. 9 To illustrate this point, we compute ca and bgst benchmarks as a function of different levels of external indebtedness and composition structure (see Table 5). Current account benchmarks turn out to be very sensitive not only to external indebtedness (scenario 1 vs. 2 and 4) but also to its composition (scenario 1 vs. 3). 10 Table 5: Sensitivity to alternative levels and composition structure of NFA. Scenarios Debt assets BGST CA BGST CA BGST CA BGST CA Equity assets Baltic states Estonia FDI assets Latvia Lithuania Debt liabilities Visegrad group Czech Republic Equity liabilities Hungary Poland FDI liabilities Slovakia Bulgaria NFA Romania Notes: All numbers in percentage of GDP A third critique in applying this framework to central and eastern Europe is that it does not consider important features of these economies, namely the share of FDI financing and the large foreign currency exposure of debt liabilities. One way of addressing the role of FDI is the following. Having disaggregated net foreign assets, we know the contributions of each component S {eq, debt, fdi}. By excluding the contribution associated to the FDI component, we derive a benchmark for that part of the current account deficitthatisnotfinanced by FDI inflows. 11 AFDIfinancing gap equal to the benchmark effectively means that the accumulation of non-fdi net liabilities is stable as a percentage of GDP. As shown in Figure 5 most countries fair relatively well compared to this benchmark, except for the Baltic countries and Romania, which have shown recently a reduced ability of financing their deficit with FDI. This alternative benchmark takes therefore a more benign view of the role of FDI inflows. Finally we address the issue of currency composition. Given our initial assumptions, we find that the impact of an exchange rate depreciation is shown to be broadly neutral (see Table 6). The reason is that 9 Equation (7) shows that "any" deficit can be consistent with a stable net foreign asset position. This simple accounting framework, however, ignores that the interest rates spread may be a negative function of net foreign assets. 10 The difference between scenario 1 and 3 is given by the size of k g. As shown in equation (7), ca + kg instead does not dependent on the composition of net foreign assets. 11 In the Baltic states, a large share of FDI has flown into the banking and retail trade sectors. As these sectors are likely to facilitate imports as much as exports, a further extension would be to exclude only a subset of FDI from liabilities. However, it isn t clear cut how to do the breakdown and the larger the sectoral breakdown, the more it becomes necessary to add arbitrary assumptions on the rates of returns of each subcategory and thus limiting any additional insight. 18

20 benchmark 2007 gap average gap ( ) RO BG SK PL HU CZ LT LV EE -15% -10% -5% 0% Figure 5: FDI financing gap vs. corresponding benchmark in percent of GDP liabilities expressed in foreign currency, although substantial, are never larger than the total amount of assets which are expressed in foreign currency terms. 12 While it is true that the debt component is for a large share denominated in foreign currency terms, for most countries the bulk of total liabilities is constituted by FDI which are domestically denominated. This an important point generally neglected, showing how FDI plays here an offsetting role in terms of foreign currency exposure risk. For developed countries one would normally expect a positive impact of an exchange rate depreciation on net foreign assets, while the result is ambiguous for emerging markets depending on the their level of foreign exchange rate exposure. Given the importance of FDI in central and eastern Europe, however, it is not surprising that the impact of an exchange rate depreciation on net foreign assets is slightly positive for almost all countries. The only exception is the case of Latvia, where the impact is slightly negative because of the larger size of its debt liabilities (see Table 6). The impact of an exchange rate depreciation therefore affects only marginally the bgst and ca benchmarks. 13 To conclude, the accounting approach based on stable external indebtedness is subject to a number of drawbacks, which may affect the normative assessment. The bottom line remains that all countries with twodigits current account deficits will continue experiencing a deterioration in their net foreign assets position, whose impact is in some cases mitigated by the share of FDI financing. 12 It appears realistic to assume that all assets are denominated in foreign currency terms. FDI and equity liabilities are instead assumed to be domestically denominated. We also take the simplifying assumption that the share of debt liabilities denominated in foreign currency terms corresponds to the figures presented in Table 3 for loans. 13 This is based on the simple assumptions of this accounting framework. This approach does not consider the possible repercussions of an exchange rate depreciation on households and firms that may be more exposed that the economy as a whole. 19

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